Judge orders state prison in attack on Erie dentist

Oct. 15--A mentally ill Erie man said Tuesday in Erie County Court that he assaulted his dentist with a crowbar in December so he could be placed in prison and receive dental and other medical treatment he could no longer afford.

Philip Kienholz, 30, was sentenced by President Judge Ernest J. DiSantis Jr. to serve one year, four months to four years in state prison in the attack.

DiSantis said Kienholz, who pleaded guilty but mentally ill to charges of aggravated assault and possessing the instrument of a crime in September, must undergo mental health treatment while in prison.

He said Kienholz was not yet ready to be in an unsupervised setting.

"I think you are getting there," the judge said.

Kienholz had asked DiSantis to sentence him to five years of probation so he could continue to receive treatment in the community as part of his court supervision.

Kienholz's lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Maria Krupicz, said Kienholz has been diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder. She praised the psychiatrists in the Erie County Prison who, she said, have discovered an effective "drug cocktail" to control his illness, which includes hallucinations when he is under stress.

Kienholz said he feels his emotions like others experience broken bones.

"It hurts to feel things," he said.

He said at the time of the attack, he had lost his insurance benefits. In a letter to the dentist read by Krupicz, Kienholz said he needed the dentist to press charges so he could get medical treatment in prison.

The dentist had prescribed an antibiotic for a sore tooth, and Kienholz said he could not afford the medicine.

District Attorney Jack Daneri urged caution, noting that Kienholz told doctors he was feeling stable just four days before the Dec. 20 attack in the Peach Street dental office. Police said Kienholz swung the weapon at the dentist, then fled after hitting the dentist.

LISA THOMPSON can be reached at 870-1802 or by e-mail. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNthompson.

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